It took Virginia 11 years to figure out what "Poofter" means.

[The Backlash Cometh]

A Vehicle for Self-Expression? Not on These Roads.

For 11 years, over nearly 200,000 miles, with the blessing of the state of Virginia, David Phillips has driven his Tracker with the "POOFTER" license plate, and nobody has complained -- not even when he parked at the British Embassy, where everybody knows "poofter" is British slang for a gay man.

"It's always a rolling good laugh for them," says Phillips, who is gay and chose his tags' message because "it's just an amusing word that I self-identify with."

David Phillips was told to return his license plate, which reads "POOFTER," after the special plates office deemed it "socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging."

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The Commonwealth fo Virginia is not amused. It gave Phillips his vanity plates in error, Carolyn Easley, coordinator of the special license plates office, wrote in a recent letter. "You may have grown fond of your personalized plates," but they are "socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging" and "you must return them." There was no explanation for why it took Virginia 11 years to figure out what "poofter" means.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Pooh. This is a duplicate. Mods, please remove.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I had MILLF

but finally tired of the local teenagers collapsing onto the pavement in hysterics whenever they saw me out in whichever car it has been attached to over the years - but especially when it was on a tt Roadster. I'd had that plate since 1997 - simply my companies intials on an old M plate. I dumped it 6 months ago.

[gateley]

8. Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't know what MILLF means - enlighten me? Thx. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. The funny thing about MILLF is this,

It's really MILF.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/MILF

[Mojorabbit]

15. I learn something

new here every day! :)

[gateley]

17. Oh, that's right -- I do remember hearing that. Thanks! nt

[dipsydoodle]

21. Yes I know that

but our registration sequence ran M1 ***. There was no plate which was simply MI LF : mine was the closest to that as it subsequently turned out. M was in a series of annual prefix letter plate changes indicating year of first registration.

Plates like M1CKY and the from earlier years D1CKY were worth huge bundles.

[madokie]

27. I guess one is never too old to learn

two of the bestest freedoms I've enjoyed in life is not having to spend this weeks paycheck this week and being able to say to my wife, Thats ok honey but not tonight ;-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Noooooo!

You should have sold it on E-bay!

[Deja Q]

2. Weird. Does Virgina allow vanity plates to include business/corporate references?

That's not allowed in MN, and the number of corporate-themed vanity plates here is incredible.

Yet we don't allow anything "socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging" either.

Point is, why don't they apply the rules as stated and not cherry-pick which ones they want to accept and which to overlook.

[MADem]

3. David Phillips--you and your POOFTER car had better get BACK in that CLOSET!!!

He's going to court, and I hope he wins.

If the Confederate groups can have their flag, he can have his POOFTER.

I really wonder if the Commonwealth would take issue with variations of "I AM GAY" or Les-B-An as a license plate?

Anyone still living in VA who knows one way or another?

Is it the word, or the :sarcasm: "Lifestyle" :sarcasm: that they are actually taking issue with, here???

[dipsydoodle]

5. Given that it's English slang

I don't really see what the issue is here.

[kimmylavin]

9. I know.

Austin Powers got to put "shagged" up all over the place, any nobody blinked, but that would have been like calling the movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Fucked Me".

Context...

[Quantess]

6. Here's another good one:

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. O - MAH- GOD!

[Ellen Forradalom]

22. ROTFLMAO

:lmao:

[Bitwit1234]

7. Well I never heard of it, til you posted this.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Nancy is another word that many in America don't get.

[dipsydoodle]

25. Another English one.......lol.

It's a good job they can't run plates saying LO SAILOR :rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. Well, gentlemen, I'll just remind you of the Virginia DMV rules

Rule one — NO POOFTAHS!

Rule two — No employee of the DMV is to maltreat the coloreds in any way whatsoever... if there's anybody watching.

Rule three — NO POOFTAHS!

Rule four — I don't want to catch anyone not drinking at their desk after lunch.

Rule five — NO POOFTAHS!

Rule six - There is NO rule six!

Rule seven - NO POOFTAHS!

That concludes the reading of the rules; Bruce.


This here is the rebel; it's the emblem of our land. You can stick it on your pickup, you can hold it in your hand. A-MEN!

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. Nice post, Bruce (nt)

[Bluzmann57]

16. Guess I'm a dumb ass as well

Because until right now, I didn't know what "poofter" meant either. Im fact, I've never even herad the term before.

[cloudbase]

18. He should get

3M TA3

It'll look good in a mirror, and it might take the commonwealth twenty years or so to figure it out.

[PDJane]

19. I haven't heard that term in years............

Funny.

Of course, please note that my grandparents were brits, and I understood what boot and bonnet meant before I ever understood trunk and hood...it's that separated by a common language thing.

[MiniMe]

20. Actually, it took 11 years for somebody to figure out what it meant

They only took it away because of a complaint, so VA never did figure it out, somebody who saw the plate knew.

[Ellen Forradalom]

23. BUZI is Hungarian

though more pejorative than POOFTER

[Ellen Forradalom]

24. Or how about FOD

for Friend of Dorothy?